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Romance of the Three Kingdoms X
A Guide by Greg Hartman
Contact: good_catholic_boy /at/ yahoo /dot/ com
aolim: goodcatholicboy9
Some caveats for contacting me:
-Please do not contact me if you are lame.
-If you are emailing me, please put something in the topic to indicate
that you are asking about this faq. I am very wary of emails from
people I don't know (you should be also). You may also feel free to
contact me via my im name, but I have found that I don't use instant
messanger nearly as much as I used to, so email is probably the surest way
to reach me.
-The only language I can speak with any degree of clarity is English.
Please, if you are contacting me, do so in English (although if you
require an answer that is only half-intelligible, German might work also).
Definitely do not bother emailing me in any other language; I won't even
respond.
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Version History
Version .5 (8/11/2005)
-first version - about halfway done with the 1st, unproofread version of
the guide.
Version .55 (8/13/05)
-finished the section on debates.
Version .75 (8/16/05)
-completed the section on the council
-added several frequent questions
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Table of Contents:
I. An Introductory Word
II. Starting a Game
III. Your Character
IV. The Town
V. Interacting with Other Officers
VI. The Council
VII. Battles and Units
VIII. Campaigns
IX. FAQs
X. Appendices
XI. Credits
XII. Legal
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I. Introduction
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 10, like many of the games before it in the
series, can be both frustrating and enjoyable to play. I say frustrating
mainly because the Romance series has a tendency to throw so many things
at a player at once, whether it be a huge amount of officer names, menus,
or cities. I intend this guide to be used as a means of becoming better
acquainted with the game without having to learn everything on the fly.
Unlike the game immediately preceding it, Romance 10 allows the player to
control a single officer throughout the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese
History. There are many new additions since this style of gameplay was
last attempted by KOEI (Romance 8), and many, although not all, of these
aspects were done really well. I'd recommend the game to anyone who has
really any interest at all in an rpg-styled strategy game.
Finally, I'd like to say a word about this guide in general. Although the
game is technically a strategy game, some of the information given here
could be considered a spoiler, so be warned if you are reading this before
even picking up the game. I don't plan on including any item, portrait,
etc lists in this guide in the near future, as these have already been
covered by other writers on this site. Any other suggestions for
additions will be warmly received.
This guide is based on the American PS2 version of Romance 10.
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II. Starting the Game
There are 9 different scenarios that are available to play. The 9th,
which is the usual "everybody is alive at the same time" fictional
scenario is unlocked by completing a game as an officer serving the force
that eventually unites China.
Unlike previous games in the series, however, there are a large amount of
historical events that take place throughout the game to make the
scenarios flow together. The scenarios are, in order:
1. February 184: "Revolt Awakens Heroric Ambitions" - The game opens with
the Yellow Turban rebellion breaking out and He Jin raising an army to
defeat them. Liu Bei's force starts out as a rogue army in Ji, while
Sun Jian, Dong Zhuo, Liu Yan, and Ma Teng all have their own cities. From
the standpoint of troop strength, however, no one comes close to matching
either the Yellow Turbans or He Jin.
2. September 189: "Dark Clouds over the Capital" - Here, Dong Zhuo has
seized the capital and rival lords have sprung up throughout the rest of
China in opposition. When playing on historical, this scenario is very
event heavy, but there are many different forces to serve or command, so
there can still be a lot of variety. This is generally my favorite
to play, although I think it is at its best with events turned off.
3. March 194: "Thunder Rolls from the Central Plains" - Relatively similar
to the prior scenario, the biggest single difference is that Dong Zhuo has
been murdered prior to this scenario and that Lu Bu and Sun Ce are rogue
armies. With events enabled and barring your own interference, both will
quickly seize cities and establish their forces. Both Cao Cao and Yuan
Shao are quite powerful, and Liu Bei is set to succeed Tao Quian. Again,
like the scenario before it, this time period sees a great deal of parity
between the rulers.
4. June 200: "Two Powers Collide at Guan Du" - This scenario really is the
turning point in the game from relatively many weak rulers to relatively
few powerfuls ones. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao both share a great deal of
power and are posed to strike at one another (to Yuan Shao's great
disadvantage, if you have events enabled), and Sun Ce has carved out a
little empire in Yangzhou. Although Liu Bei has a couple cities under
his control, they are both weak and won't last long against Cao Cao's
powerful army, especially with events enabled.
5. May 207: "A Dragon Rises as Chi Bi Burns" - Probably one of the best
scenarios if playing to see animated events, as several occur quite early
in the scenario. Cao Cao has conquered the entire north and has set his
eyes on Jingzhou. Liu Bei meanwhile searches for an advisor that will
be able to lead his army against such a force, while Sun Quan debates
whether to oppose Cao Cao's army or submit to it.
6. July 217: "Tremors of War Shake Han Zhong" - This is really the first
"Three Kingdoms" proper scenario. Liu Bei, having defeated Cao Cao at Chi
Bi, has since conquered Liu Zhang's territory and set his sights on the
north, while both Cao Cao and Sun Quan have their eye set on northern
Jing, defended by Guan Yu.
7. April 227: "A Struggle between Old Enemies" - The now obligatory
Zhuge Liang vs Sima Yi scenario. Having lost the Jing province to Wu,
Shu's warlord now turns to the north in an attempt to capture the central
plains. Sun Quan, although he has gained territory, is relatively equal
in power with where he was last scenario.
8. August 253: "The Lonely Legacy of the Dead" - The final historical
scenario sees Shu on the brink of disaster. Zhuge Liang's successor,
Jiang Wei, makes his final attempts to push north to seize the central
plains while Shu whithers from within due to Liu Shan's poor rule. Wei,
although strong militarily, also suffers from internal strife and is not
long for the world.
9. January 250: "Heroes Across Time" - The only fictional scenario in this
installment places every officer from the entire period into a single game
with unlimited lifespans. The only way an officer will die is if he is
beheaded by another ruler. A fun scenario, but also one that sees many
rulers unable to manage such large armies with little resources. Cao Cao
is also difficult to defeat.
There are several ways you can choose to select your character. The most
straightforward is to simply select the scenario you wish to play and then
pick an officer from that scenario. Alternatively, you can answer a
series of questions and the game will suggest a character for you based
on your own personality. Finally, the game has several important officers
prepackaged with scenarios from which you can select.
The final decisions to make are with regard to the games options. Almost
all of these are self explanatory, so I'll only mention the really
important ones:
Difficulty (advanced or beginner) - On advanced, the AI controlled empires
are more aggressive, build armies more quickly, and generally slaughter
prefects you control. The manual mentions that playing on advanced also
reduces revenue in your cities, but this is harder to notice. It also
hides the loyalty ratings of enemy officers, which I think is a very
cool option.
Mode (historic or fictional) - Historical allows officers to behave as
they did in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, whereas fictional
randomizes AI control. Playing with Historical mode on but events off
maintains historial relations between rulers and officers, but disables
events that would normally occur.
Events (on or off) - With this turned on, important events from the novel
that could not be duplicated with gameplay will occur if specific
conditions are met (for example, Tao Qian falling ill and leaving his
territory to Liu Bei). This cannot be set to "On" if the game mode is
in fictional. Leaving this enabled will result in Cao Cao dominating
many of the early scenarios (unless of course you interfere with the
events yourself).
? (Lifespan extensions on or off) - Enabling this command will lengthen
all the officers in the game's lifespans by a good amount. This can be
unlocked by completing scenario 9 as an officer or ruler of the force
that unites China.
After confirming options, the game will begin.
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III. Your character
Probably the most important part of the game is understanding your own
officer's abilities. All of this information can be accessed any time
during the game by pressing circle and picking "self." The information
is broken up into several different subcategories. The following
information, however, is always present:
1. Your officer's portrait
2. The force which you serve, and, below it, the district to which you
report. Every force is organized first into districts, ruled by
viceroy's, and then into cities, ruled by prefects. The first district
is always ruled by the sovereign of the force, and subsequent districts
can have any officer of class 2 or higher appointed to govern as
viceroy. An individual officer reports first to his prefect, who
reports to the viceroy, who in turn reports to the ruler. Of course,
every officer owes his allegiance first to the ruler.
3. Your officer's rank. As I mentioned above, the ranks go in order from
vassal -> prefect -> viceroy -> ruler. If your officer is free, he
will have no rank.
4. Your officer's class. This is on a scale of 1-9, with 9 being the
lowest. Class affects seasonal salary, with class 1 officers obviously
earning the most money as well as how many troops you can command in
the field, using the algorithm 11 - (class) = (number of units to
command). Officers with rank 5 or higher can be promoted to prefect,
and officers with rank 2 or higher can be promoted to viceroy.
5. Your officer's deeds. Deeds determine your class. Your officer gains
deeds by satisfactorily performing duties, regardless of whether he is
a vassal or a viceroy. The better you are at completing your duties,
the more deeds you will gain when you report your successes. The max
is 60000.
The following is listed when you select the corresponding box from the
top of the screen:
1. Abilities (all abilities are from 1-100, before the application of
any special items.)
A. LDR - How well an officer leads troops in the fields. Among
the most important of the stats, leadership primarily determines how
effective your troops are in the field, whether it be in a regular
battle or a campaign. It also affects the drill and order commands
in your city.
B. WAR - How well an officer can fight/how strong he is. Helps the most
in duels, but also effects how well you can repair the city gates.
The manual claims this also affects how often you are injured in
battle, but I haven't noticed a very strong correlation there. If
you can avoid duels (which is actually pretty difficult), this stat
is not as critical as you might expect.
c. INT - Arguably the most important stat. The higher your INT
the more commands you get when debating, the less susceptible your
character is to tactics in battle, and the more often your own
tactics succeed. It also effects your action points in battle, as
well as how well you can use the diplomacy commands and improve
technology in your city.
d. POL - Probably the least important stat. Political ability affects
how well an officer develops the farmland or marketplace.
e. CHR - How well an officer interacts with other officers. This
ability affects many of the non-battle tactics, as well as the
diplomacy commands. It also affects your ability to build friendships
with officers and recruit them and how well you can convince others
in debates.
f. LDR exp - Your experience in Leadership. Raises by training at a
school or by being instructed by another officer. Gaining 100
experience causes your stat to raise by one point.
g. WAR exp - Your experience in War. Raises by training at a
school or by being instructed by another officer. Gaining 100
experience causes your stat to raise by one point.
h. INT exp - Your experience in Intelligence. Raises by training at a
school or by being instructed by another officer. Gaining 100
experience causes your stat to raise by one point.
i. POL exp - Your experience in Politics. Raises by training at a
school or by being instructed by another officer. Gaining 100
experience causes your stat to raise by one point.
j. CHR exp - Your experience in Charisma. Raises by training at a
school or by being instructed by another officer. Gaining 100
experience causes your stat to raise by one point.
k. Health - Your officer's health. Decreases from Good -> Weakened ->
Struggling -> Dying -> (officer dies). As your health decreases,
your abilities lower. Unless your officer is very old, he will
eventually recover from injuries; otherwise he will die. Your
officer can treat injuries at a city with an Infirmary or with the
doctor skill.
2. Skills - Skills are divided into 6 Categories: Domestics, Battle,
Tactics, Duel, Debate, and Renown. A skill that is highlighted is
a skill your officer currently has; a skill that has its name outlined
in blue is a skill your officer has the ability to learn.
Since there are so many skills, I'll use the following format to
describe them:
NAME: (Name of the skill)
EFFECT: (What the skill allows you to do)
LEARNED: (How you learned the skill)
RATING: (is the skill worth learning)
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Domestic Skills
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NAME: Farm
EFFECT: Allows your character to work at the farms for up to 50 days at a
a time, theoretically increasing his ability to improve farmland.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 farm experience, befriend an officer who has the
skill, ask him to teach you about politics, and he may teach you the skill.
Cai Yan, the poetess, also teaches the Domestic skills if you build up
your relation with her and have the experience.
RATING: Crap. There is never a reason to develop for more than 10 days at
a time. Just do the task for ten days, report to your prefect, then get
more money and repeat.
NAME: Trade
EFFECT: Allows your character to trade for up to 50 days at a time,
theoretically increasing his ability to improve trade.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 trade experience, befriend an officer who has the
skill, ask him to teach you about politics, and he may teach you the skill.
Cai Yan, the poetess, also teaches the Domestic skills if you build up
your relation with her and have the experience.
RATING: Crap. There is never a reason to develop for more than 10 days at
a time. Just do the task for ten days, report to your prefect, then get
more money and repeat.
NAME: Tech
EFFECT: Allows your character to work at the blacksmith for up to 50 days
at a time, theoretically increasing his ability to improve the city's
tech rating.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 tech experience, befriend an officer who has the
skill, ask him to teach you about politics, and he may teach you the skill.
Cai Yan, the poetess, also teaches the Domestic skills if you build up
your relation with her and have the experience.
RATING: Crap. There is never a reason to develop for more than 10 days at
a time. Just do the task for ten days, report to your prefect, then get
more money and repeat.
NAME: Repair
EFFECT: Allows your character to repair the gate for up to 50 days
at a time, theoretically increasing his ability to improve the city's
defense rating.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 repair experience, befriend an officer who has the
skill, ask him to teach you about politics, and he may teach you the skill.
Cai Yan, the poetess, also teaches the Domestic skills if you build up
your relation with her and have the experience.
RATING: Crap. There is never a reason to develop for more than 10 days at
a time. Just do the task for ten days, report to your prefect, then get
more money and repeat.
NAME: Order
EFFECT: Allows your character to raise the city's order for up to 50 days
at a time, theoretically increasing his ability to improve the city's
order.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 order experience, befriend an officer who has the
skill, ask him to teach you about politics, and he may teach you the skill.
Cai Yan, the poetess, also teaches the Domestic skills if you build up
your relation with her and have the experience.
RATING: Crap. There is never a reason to develop for more than 10 days at
a time. Just do the task for ten days, report to your prefect, then get
more money and repeat.
*Note that although these skills are essentially worthless for your
character, if you are a prefect they are quite useful for your
subordinates. When the computer simulates how well an officer does a
task, having the correct domestic ability greatly improves his success.
NAME: Hire
EFFECT: Hired soldiers come with 50 experience and 50 morale, instead of
30.
LEARNED: Acquire 100 each of Foot, Horse, and Bow units experience,
befriend an officer who has the skill, ask him to teach you about
politics, and he may teach you the skill. Cai Yan, the poetess, also
teaches the Domestic skills if you build up your relation with her and
have the experience.
RATING: Pretty useful, especially if you need to supplement units with
high experience ratings but maintain a high skill level.
NAME: Drill
EFFECT: Training units raises morale and experience above 100.
LEARNED: Acquire 200 each of Foot, Horse, and Bow units experience,
befriend an officer who has the skill, ask him to teach you about
politics, and he may teach you the skill. Cai Yan, the poetess, also
teaches the Domestic skills if you build up your relation with her and
have the experience.
RATING: Well, it's the only way to raise experience and morale above 100
besides fighting in a battle, so it's pretty valuable.
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Battle Skills
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NAME: Charge
EFFECT: Allows your officer to use the charge tactic in battle. Charging
the enemy will sometimes push them back a square (common), sometimes
confuse them (rarely), and sometimes force a duel (almost never). It
always raises your unit's morale and lowers the morale of the target.
LEARNED: Acquire 500 Horse experience and ask a friend to teach you. Huang
Cheng Yan also teaches these skills.
RATING: Charge is somewhat useful, but really doesn't do much more damage
than a regular attack and takes more action points to use. Still, this
skill is worth learning.
NAME: Missle
EFFECT: Allows your unit to shoot fire arrows in battle. Fire arrows do
more damage than regular arrows and have a reasonable chance of setting
the target terrain on fire, causing additional damage.
LEARNED: Acquire 500 bow experience and learn it from another officer.
Huang Cheng Yan also teaches it.
RATING: Among the best skills in the game. Fire arrows are very powerful,
as are the flames they cause.
NAME: Unison
EFFECT: Allows your unit to bring other allied units when attacking an
enemy unit. The assisting unit will take no damage.
LEARNED: Acquire 500 foot experience and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Better than charge. Unison attacks are worth the action points
they require. This is one of the better battle skills.
NAME: Settle
EFFECT: Allows your unit to calm a unit that is confused or agitated.
In a campaign, it allows you to use "calm," which does the same thing.
LEARNED: Take part in 5 battles and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Eh...somewhat useful. Most units rally themselves fairly quickly
without going out of your way to rescue them with this tactic. It's
really easy to meet the learning requirements though, so it's one you're
likely to get just by playing anyway.
NAME: Surprise
EFFECT: Allows your unit to attack a unit anywhere on the battlefield,
but only during inclement weather. In a campaign, it allows you to use
"raid," which does essentially the same thing.
LEARNED: Win 20 battles and learn it from an officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Not really that good. In a regular battle, the tactic really only
works on a unit that is confused or agitated; otherwise you will suffer
some relatively high casualties. I've never seen it work in a campaign.
NAME: Rally
EFFECT: Allows your unit to rally an adjacent unit and raise their morale.
In a campaign it allows you to use "encourage," which does essentially
the same thing.
LEARNED: Fight in 10 battles and learn it from another officer or Huang
Cheng Yan.
RATING: Not bad and easy to learn. If you use it several times in a row
you can really have a big effect on your unit's morale.
NAME: Distract
EFFECT: Allows your unit to use the 'sneak' command in battle and the
'distract' command in a campaign. I've not had much experience with the
campaign tactic, as I've never seen it work. Sneak prevents your unit
from being ambushed.
LEARNED: 10 victories in battle.
RATING: Not very good. The game almost never uses ambushes, so sneaking
isn't worth using. I've never seen distract work.
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Tactics
------------
NAME: Blunder
EFFECT: Use in battle to trick two adjacent enemy units to attack one
another.
LEARNED: Gain 200 tactics experience and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Among the best skills in the game, especially when defending.
Blunder does a huge amount of damage on both units and you can use it
several times per turn. It really is a must have skill.
NAME: Stun
EFFECT: Allows you to use the scare tactic in battle, which delays an
enemy unit's turn and lowers their morale. The "stun" battle skill does
the same thing in a campaign.
LEARNED: Gain 300 tactics experience and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Although the computer loves to use the scare tactic in battle, it
is not terribly effective. It uses many action points, so you are
essentially wasting half your turn for the chance to delay your opponents.
There are some instances where it is useful, but not too many.
NAME: Entice
EFFECT: In battle, entice agitates an enemy unit so the commander
disobeys all orders and beelines for the commander that taunted him. It
also makes his unit very vulnerable to the confuse tactic. A taunted
commander will usually accept an offer to duel. This skill also allows
the lure tactic in campaigns, which does essentially the same thing, but
works less often.
LEARNED: Gain 400 tactics experience and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: If you happen to be playing as an officer that has high WAR and
high INT, this skill is among the best. Entice, confuse, duel; or even
entice, duel - both are very effective, assuming of course you win the
duel. Even if you do not have a high war officer, it is useful to use
this tactic often because it makes the enemy unit vulnerable to other
tactics as well. This is one of the better skills.
NAME: Confuse
EFFECT: Allows you to confuse the enemy troop in battle, which prevents
them from moving or acting. The unit will remain that way until it is
either settled by another enemy unit or until the commander regains
control, which usually takes a few days. During this time the commander
will be very likely to accept a duel. It also lets you use 'discourage'
in a campaign, which, like all campaign commands, almost never works.
LEARNED: Gain 500 tactics experience and learn it from another officer or
Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: A pretty good tactic, but hardly an essential one. Unless you
have very high INT and the enemy unit is has pretty low INT, this will
rarely work unless his unit is already enticed. It also uses a lot of
action points to use. When it works though you are likely to crush the
enemy unit before he can pull it back together.
NAME: Aero
EFFECT: Allows your officer to control the weather and wind.
LEARNED: Gain 600 tactics experience and 400 tech experience and learn it
from another officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Fairly useful. If you don't mind exploiting the AI, change the
weather to fog and move a ram next to their gate and you can level it
quickly. You can also use it to set fires when defending, then change the
wind to point towards the enemy. This is also one of the few ways to
gain wizadry experience without performing a request at the tavern.
NAME: Geomancy
EFFECT: Allows your officer to use the terrain to his advantage in battle
(ie the "pit" and "boulder" commands). When carrying out search requests
at the tavern, this command reveals the location of the treasure, bandit,
etc for which you are searching when you move the cursor over it.
LEARNED: Gain 600 tactics experience and 400 inspect experience and learn
it from another officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Among the best tactics in the game. Pit and boulder are both
excellent tactics to use against enemies, and the ability to quickly find
your goal in searches will save you plenty of frustration and time.
NAME: Maze
EFFECT: Build mazes during campaigns or by marching to a base. Mazes
confuse enemy units that approach them.
LEARNED: Gain 700 tactics and 400 repair experience and learn it from
another officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Not very good. I usually build camps, forts, etc instead of mazes.
-------------
Duel Commands
-------------
NAME: Recover
EFFECT: Use 3 evades to gain health in a duel.
LEARNED: Fight in 5 duels and learn from an officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Probably the worst duel skill. Evades are more useful for, well,
evading powerful attacks.
NAME: Shout
EFFECT: Use 3 slices to gain musou in a duel.
LEARNED: Fight in 15 duels and learn from an officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Pretty decent, but only because it trumps all other duel skills.
NAME: Scare
EFFECT: Use 3 slashes to gain musuo and deplete your opponent's in a duel.
LEARNED: Fight in 30 duels and learn from an officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Slightly better than shout.
NAME: Crush
EFFECT: Use three stabs to hit your opponent pretty hard.
LEARNED: Win 10 duels and learn from another officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Pretty good, but gets trumped by any other duel special besides
the generic skills.
NAME: Maul
EFFECT: Use 3 strikes to inflict a ton of damage on your opponent.
LEARNED: Win 30 duels and learn from another officer or Huang Cheng Yan.
RATING: Better than Crush, but still trumped by almost anything.
NAME: Parry
EFFECT: Use 3 swings to counter your opponent's attacks for a round.
LEARNED: Win 10 duels in a row and learn from another officer or Huang
Cheng Yan.
RATING: The second best duel skill. Trumps everying besides the shout and
scare tactics, and will destroy someone that uses maul or crush on you.
NAME: Counter
EFFECT: Use 3 swipes to strongly counter your opponent's attacks for a
round.
LEARNED: Win 30 duels in a row and learn from another officer or Huang
Cheng Yan.
RATING: The best duel skill, but a hard one to learn. Will mutilate
anyone that thinks about using any attack special on you.
-------------
Debate Skills
-------------
NAME: Awe
EFFECT: Damages the enemy in a debate every turn it is on the board.
LEARNED: Take place in 15 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: A pretty decent debate skill, especially if you know your opponent
is likely to use incite, since even if he uses it and you won't be able to
act, you will still be doing some damage while you wait.
NAME: Plead
EFFECT: Prevents the enemy from using an attack command in a debate when
held in your hand. If you use it as a regular command it will disarm
your opponent's plead/refute cards.
LEARNED: Win 10 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: Also good, especially if your opponent has a lot of attack
commands.
NAME: Fault
EFFECT: An attack command that trumps all regular commands.
LEARNED: Take place in 5 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: Relatively useful, but hardly the best command in debates.
NAME: Argue
EFFECT: A stronger version of fault.
LEARNED: Take place in 30 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: Slightly better than fault.
NAME: Refute
EFFECT: Counters an enemy's attack command in a debate when held in your
hand. Disarms the enemy's refute commands when used as a regular card.
LEARNED: Win 30 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: If it isn't the best debate skill, it is pretty close. If your
opponent uses a very strong attack skill and you're holding this card
you will likely defeat him immediately.
NAME: Incite
EFFECT: Trumps argue/fault and makes your opponent inactive for 2 turns.
LEARNED: Win 10 debates and learn it from another officer.
RATING: Among the best debate skills, unless of course your opponent has
a refute card. Generally with 2 free hits on your opponent you can do
some serious damage.
NAME: Taunt
EFFECT: Trumps every other command, makes your opponent inactive for 2
turns, and inflicts strong damage in a debate.
LEARNED: Win 30 straight debates (no easy task) and then defeat either
Zuo Ci or Mi Heng in a debate (also not easy). Zuo Ci frequents the Ba-
Shu area, while Mi Heng tends to stick to the Qingzhou area.
RATING: The only card that comes close to matching it is refute, and
that's because refute could potentially turn an opponent's taunt right
back on them. Generally, one use of this bad boy will mean disaster for
your opponent, unless they refute it in your face.
-------------
Renown Skills
-------------
NAME: Warlord
EFFECT: Allows your officer to use the agitate and destroy tactics against
an enemy city, regardless of your rank and current orders. Allows you to
use the direct command in battle, which allows you to control another unit
out of turn. A subordinate who has this skill will offer you advice
during the council if you are a prefect.
LEARNED: Automatically learned if you have 70 Intelligence and 700 tactics
experience.
RATING: Well, most of the renown skills are good, and warlord is no
exception. The direct command is very powerful, and it's always nice to
be able to freely destroy a neighboring city.
NAME: Hero
EFFECT: Private units are free, since any peon would willingly die for
such a charismatic leader. As a vassal, you can freely recruit any free
officer you see, regardless of your orders. As a rogue army, you can
simply persuade a vacant city rather than beseige it. When entering a
hostile city, you can challenge the guard to a debate rather than dueling
him.
LEARNED: Earn 700 fame and then build up a relationship with Qiao Xuan or
Xu Shao and they will teach you the skill.
RATING: A must have skill, especially for an officer with very low war
ability, since it will save you plenty of money bribing guards who would
wipe the floor with you in a duel. It's also very useful not to have to
be ordered to recruit someone as a vassal. One of the best skills.
NAME: Admiral
EFFECT: Your officer is a better fighter on water, cannot be swept away by
the current, and has double mobility on water.
LEARNED: Automatically learned when you achieve 500 naval experience.
RATING: Hardly the best renown skill, but very useful if you are fighting
in the south.
NAME: Spy
EFFECT: Your officer leaves a permanent spy in any city he surveys.
LEARNED: Automatically learned when you achieve 700 inspect experience.
RATING: Very good skill if you routinely are forced to investigate cities
yourself. If you are playing as a prefect, however, it is much easier
just to send a subordinate with the skill to do your surveying for you.
NAME: Host
EFFECT: Allows the use of the banquet command in the tavern. Banquets
raise friendship with all the officers who attend by a good deal, but cost
money and take 10 days.
LEARNED: Automatically learned when you achieve 200 drinking experience.
RATING: Not bad, but hardly an essential skill. It's not that hard to
build friendships just through talking, especially since officers don't
hang out at the tavern too much.
NAME: Doctor
EFFECT: Lets you use the heal command in battle, which heals some wounded
troops for a small use of action points. Allows you to heal injured
officers, and makes your own officer recover more quickly from illnesses.
LEARNED: Acquire 400 farm, trade, and order experience and talk to Hua
Tuo. Yu Ji can also give you a book that teaches the skill, but you must
meet the requirements first.
RATING: Healing is pretty useful, but the other abilities given by this
skill rarely come in use. It's not essential, but nice to have if you
have met the requirements anyway.
NAME: Wizard
EFFECT: Allows you to baffle the guards of hostile cities with your
amazing magical abilities, allowing you to enter the city freely. In
battle, it allows you to use the lightning command, presupposing that you
have the Geo and Aero skills.
LEARNED: Acquire 500 Wizard experience and learn it from either Yu Ji or
Zuo Ci.
RATING: Overrated, although not if you have no other way to enter cities.
Lightning is good, but cheesy.
3. Individual
A. Gender/Age - relatively self explanatory.
B. Years served - the number of years you have served your ruler. This
has really no effect on your character, but when viewing other
officers, the longer they have served a ruler, the less likely they
are to betray them.
C. Loyalty - loyalty to current force. Obviously, this does not display
for the controlled character, since you decide how loyal he is. On
advanced, this also does not appear for enemy officers.
D. Fame - how famous your officer is on a scale of 1-1000. The higher
this is, the more likely an ruler is likely to employ you if you
apply. If this is high, there is also a higher chance of the
townspeople assisting you with any developmental task. It increases
as you complete requests for the townspeople at the tavern, capture
enemy cities, recruit officers for your lord, or go out of your way
and use your own money to improve your city.
E. Friendship - This also obviously only displays for other officers,
and it shows your current friendship level with the displayed
officer. Friendships go from nemesis -> stranger -> aware ->
acquainted -> friend -> trusted -> close -> oath. See the section
on interacting with other officers for more information.
F. Orders - Displays if you currently have any active orders. This is
much more efficiently displayed by pressing the L2 button.
G. Progress - Again, this info is better displayed by pressing L2.
If you are viewing another officer, it will say either "preparing"
or "active," depending on his progress.
H. Spouse - Lists the spouse of the officer. There is no way to marry
during the game, but if you create a new female officer, you can set
her as your wife and vice versa. If your wife is not an officer in
the game, she will be located at your house.
I. Oath - Lists the oath brothers of another officer or yourself. You
can have up to 3. An oath brother will always join you if he is not
currently employed and will declare anyone who kills you his nemesis.
If your character is to die, you can continue the game as one of
your oath brothers. Officers can ask to make an oath anytime you
are drinking with them.
4. Biography - Displays your character's biography from the Romance of the
Three Kingdoms novel.
5. Experience - Lists all your experience levels, which are used for
learning skills. This does not display for other officers.
6. Private Unit - Displays info on your private unit. Note that you can
only have a private unit as a free officer.
A. Type - The type of unit. See the section on battles for more info.
B. Exp. - The experience of your unit. Generally, the more the better.
This can be raised by training your unit at the barracks. Recruiting
will lower it.
C. Morale - The morale of your private unit.
D. Pay - An essentially boolean indicator that shows whether or not you
have to pay your private unit. A private unit costs 30 gold per
month unless you have the Hero skill.
-------------------------------------------
Some tips on having a succcessful character
-------------------------------------------
1. In most circumstances, stats are more important than skills. The
most notable exception to this, however, is in debates, where you can and
will get demolished even with 100 INT if you don't have any skills. This
is somewhat less of a problem in duels, but skills are still important.
2. Focus on learning skills that are worth the time and gold investments.
Most of the domestic skills, for example, are pretty much useless and not
worth actively pursuing unless you are attempting to learn all the skills
in one playthrough.
3. It is very, very time consuming to build stats in this game. If a
major part of your game is going to be devoted to character development,
I would recommend an officer with abilities relatively close to what you'd
be satisfied with, but relatively few skills.
4. Generally, I find it more fulfilling to play through the game with a
relatively balanced character and trying not to pick up too many skills
throughout the game, but that is personal preference.
5. If your officer has a very poor war but many debate skills, the HERO
skill is practically essential, because it will get you out of some sticky
situations when traveling through China. With the skill, you can debate
ruffians who would otherwise rob you blind. There is nothing worse than
losing 100,000 gold to a bandit because you were too cheap to offer him
more than 100 gold not to hurt you (it has happened to me).
6. Choose oath brothers whom you wouldn't mind controlling. It's not
unheard of for your officer to get beheaded by another ruler, especially
if you switch rulers often. This is especially true if your officer has
no relatives that are worth while.
7. Learning a debate or duel skill from another officer requires that you
can beat them in either of these tests. It is best to learn from an
officer you are fairly confident you can defeat, otherwise it will take
a very long time. If you are trying to defeat Mi Heng or Zuo Ci for the
taunt skill, there isn't much I can say but "good luck." REFUTE is
completely essential.
**********************************************************
IV. The Town
Regardless of your character's rank, he will spend the majority of his
time around his home city completing various tasks. The following are
the facilities present in the various cities in Romance 10:
(Facilities with a * before the name are present in every city. Those
without the * are only available in certain cities. See the apendix
section for a chart of facilities and in which cities they are present.
When listing commands, those in parentheses are commands that can only
be caried out by a vassal when he is ordered. Commands that are in
brackets can only be carried out by the city's prefect. Certain commands
can also only be used on an enemy city. In these circumstances, I will
indicate as such).
--------------------
Military Facilities
--------------------
*Barracks - Present in every city, the barracks are where soldiers are
gathered and trained for combat. The following commands are selectable at
the barracks:
1. (Establish) - Draft soldiers to form a new unit. The cost to form
the unit is twice what it would be to supplement an existing unit
with new troops. Unless there are special facilities present in the
city, you will only be able create Foot, Horse, or Bow units. The
higher the acting officer's charisma and fame, the more troops will
gather at his command. A city with size S can hold 5 units, with
size M can hold 10, with size L can hold 15, and with size XL can
hold 20. (Takes 10 days)
2. (Drill) - Drill a unit at the barracks. Unless the acting officer
has the DRILL skill, the max morale and experience through training
is 100. If your officer has high fame, there is a chance that the
troops will be especially well motivated and the increase will be
larger. The higher your officer's leadership, the better the results.
(Takes 10 days).
3. (Recruit) - Supplement an existing unit's number of troops with new
"volunteers." If your officer has the HIRE skill, he will manage to
enlist better recruits. In any case, new soldiers require training
before they are effective on the battlefield. The higher your
officer's charisma, the more effective he will be at charisma.
(Takes 10 days).
4. [Edit] - Merge or disband current units. Merging units will average
the morale and skill of the two units. Obviously, you can only
merge units of the same type. Disbanded units return to the city's
population. (Takes 1 day).
5. [Upgrade] - Upgrade a unit to the next higher type. Only certain
units can be upgraded, and require a minimum experience to do so.
See the section on battles and units for more info. Upgrading costs
nothing and takes place instantly.
6. Interact - Speak with another officer who is at the barracks. See
the section on interactions for more info.
7. Observe - Listen to rumors that are circulating the facility. You
may learn about a city in the region's specialty, about the presence
of a free but undiscovered officer, or you may get a hint about
gameplay. If a hidden officer is present, you will uncover him and
be given the chance to hire him. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Foot) - A facility relatively common throughout China, the Foot
Garrison allows you to upgrade units from Foot to Infantry when they
reach 300 experience. There are only two commands present here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Bow) - A facility relatively common throughout China, the Bow
Garrison allows you to upgrade units from Bow to Crossbow when they reach
300 experience. There are only two commands present here:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Horse) - A facility relatively common throughout the land, the
Horse Garrison allows you to upgrade units from Horse to Cavalry when
they reach 300 experience. There are only two commands present here:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Horsebow) - A relatively rare facility, found only in the more
northern regions of China, the Horsebow Garrison allows you to establish
the powerful horsebow unit. Like all the Garrisons, your only options
are:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Savage) - Another relatively rare facility found primarily in
the southwestern provinces of China, the Savage Garrison allows you to
establish Savage units. The two possible commands are:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Elephant) - A quite rare facility found only in the extreme
southwestern cities of China, the Elephant Garrison allows you to
establish the powerful but unpredictable Elephant units. The two
possible commands here are:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Garrison (Armored) - Another rare facility found only in the southwestern
regions of China, the Armored Garrison allows the establishment of Armored
units (formerly called Nanman soldiers, or Rattan Armored soldiers). The
only two commands are:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
Machine Yard - Allows the construction of various war machines depending
on the cities tech level. There are quite a few cities that have this
facility. The higher the technology level of the city, the more weapons
that can be created. The following commands are present.
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day)
3. (Weapon) - Outfit a unit with a specific unit. The cost varies
depending on the weapon being build. (Takes 20 days).
Shipyard - Allows the construction of either ramships or warships, which
make units fight much more effectively on water. Relatively common in
the southeast area of China near the Yangtze River, but only in a few
cities outside of that area. The following commands are present there:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day)
3. (Ship) - Outfit a unit with either a ramship or a warship. (Takes
20 days).
Foundry - Improves the ability of other facilities to improve units or
build weapons. The following combinations exist:
Foundry + Foot Garrison = Sentinel upgrades at 500 unit experience.
Foundry + Horse Garrison = Tiger upgrades at 500 unit experience.
Foundry + Bow Garrison = Marksmen upgrades at 500 unit experience.
Foundry + Machine Yard = Juggernauts and wood oxen can be built.
Foundry + Shipyard = Warships can be built.
The following commands are available:
1. Interact - Speak with another officer present at the Garrison.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (Takes 1 day).
--------------------
Civilian Facilities
--------------------
Home - Your officer's home. This obviously only appears in the city in
which your character lives. Visiting your home will occasionally cause
your friends to drop by for some conversation, a debate, drink, or a duel.
Also, forces hostile to your force will periodically send messengers to
your house in an attempt to recruit you or arrage for your betrayal.
The following commands are available in your house:
1. Wait - Stand by idle for anywhere between 1 and 90 days.
2. Resign - Abandon your current force and become a free officer.
3. Interact - Speak with your wife. Only characters set to have wives
will have anyone present here. If your character is married to a
fictional wife, she won't be at your home, as she is also an officer.
4. Organize - Form a rogue army in this city. This option is only
available if you are a free officer with a personal unit. You will
be given the option to invite any officers currently in the city
to join your army. From here, you will move to the rogue army
commands.
5. Relocate - This command is only available to free officers. It moves
your home city to any other city currently on the map.
*Tavern - The city's tavern, where the common people drink and the nobles
look for talent to complete tasks. The following commands are available
here:
1. Banquet - Hold a banquet. You can invite any officers that are
presently at the tavern. This command requires that your officer has
the HOST skill. Officers who attend the banquet will have their
friendship level rise dramatically. (takes 10 days)
2. Requests - Browse the current tasks for which the nobles are hiring.
Completing a task usually requires visiting another city or searching
an area on the map, possibly fighting a duel or winning an debate,
and returning to the original tavern. Your reward will usually be
gold and a fame bonus. After taking on a task, you can always view
the current requirements by pressing the L2 button.
3. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Tavern.
4. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
5. (Agitate) (enemy cities only) - Attempt to spread rumors in order to
lower the order rating of an enemy city. The higher your officer's
intelligence, the more damage this command will do to order. If
you have exceptional success, the townspeople may agree to revolt,
and you will be able to use the revolt tactic in the next battle.
(takes 10 days)
6. (Rumor) (enemy cities only) - Attempt to spread a malicious rumor
about a rival lord's officer in order to lower his loyalty. The
higher your officer's intelligence, the better success you will have
in spreading the rumor. (takes 10 days)
7. (Disrupt) (enemy cities only) - Attempt to spread rumors in order
to damage relations between two rival forces. The higher your
officer's intelligence, the better success you will have in spreading
the rumor. (takes 10 days)
8. Private Unit - These commands are available only to free officers;
there are several subcommands here:
A. Establish - Establish a private unit. You can only establish
units that could be established within the limitations of the
city's facilities. (takes 10 days)
B. Recruit - Add soldiers to your private unit. (takes 10 days)
C. Upgrade - Upgrade your private unit. You need the proper city
facility to be present in order to do this.
D. Drill - Drill your private unit. (takes 10 days)
E. Disband - Disband your private unit.
Infirmary - A relatively rare and of little use facility, the Infirmary
allows your officer to heal himself if he were to be wounded in battle.
It also tempers the effects of the plague. The following commands are
available here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Infirmary.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Heal - Heal any wounds your officer may have received. (takes 20
days).
Flood Control - Another not too useful facility, the Flood Control
upgrade tempers damage that might occur from a typhoon or flooding. There
isn't much to do here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Flood
Control improvement.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
Granary - Slightly more useful than the Flood Control improvement, the
Granary reduces potential damage from locust swarms. Again, there isn't
much to do here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Granary.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
Shelter - Perhaps the most useless of any improvement, the Shelter reduces
the order penalty that takes place when an earthquake (the rarest
disaster) occurs. The manual also indicates that it hastens population
growth, but I am unsure about this claim. There are only two commands
here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Shelter.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
School of POL, INT, WAR, LDR - These facilities allow your character to
train a specific stat for a period of time, increasing its experience, and,
ultimately, his abilities. The following commands are present at these
facilities:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the School.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Train (stat) - Train the stat in which the school specializes.
Training is more effective if the current city also has the Lecture
Hall improvement. (takes 20 days)
Lecture Hall - When coupled with a School of an ability, the Lecture Hall
increases the effectiveness of training as well as the maximum stat that
can be reach through training at the school. There are, however, only 2
commands present at the actual Lecture Hall facility:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Lecture
Hall.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
Exchange - One of the best non-military improvements for a city, the
Exchange allows an officer to wager 1000 gold in an attempt for greater
gain. The following commands are present here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Exchange.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Deal - Wager 1000 gold in a deal at the Exchange. There are three
basic outcomes:
A. The deal goes very well, and you win an item.
B. The deal goes well, and you return about 1.8 times your investment.
C. The deal goes poorly, and you return about .3 times your
investment.
The Exchange is an important improvement for two basic reasons.
First, it allows your character to win items relatively cheaply
compared with the high prices at the Bazaar. Secondly, there are
several items that can only be won at the Exchange and can not be
found elsewhere.
Bazaar - Another important facility, the Bazaar allows your character to
buy a variety of items from the merchants of the town. The following
commands are present here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Bazaar.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Buy - Buy an item from the merchant. (takes 1 day per item).
4. Sell - Sell an item to the merchant. Items are sold for 2/3 of the
price for which they are purchased. (takes 1 day per item).
Observatory - Essentially a novelty improvement, the Observatory allows
your character to gauge either his or another officer's lifespan, as well
as predict natural disasters. The only real use for this facility is to
earn wizardry experience, but, of course, there are better ways
(specifically requests) to earn such experience. Anyway, the following
commands are present at the Observatory:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Observatory.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Fortune - Reveal how much time an officer has left to live. You can
pick any officer, including yourself. This costs 100 gold and takes
1 day.
4. Forecast - Ask the observatory official the current forecast for
disasters. Am I the only one who finds it funny that they consider
the Han Emperor a disaster? Anyway, this almost useless command
costs 500 gold. The only way I could even imagine this feature of
the observatory being useful is if, for some reason, you wanted to
fight a battle in extremely inclement weather.
----------------------
Government Facilities
----------------------
*Castle - The administrative center of the city, and generally where a
prefect will spend the majority of his time (especially if he is
controlled by the computer). Note that you cannot enter the castle if
the city is controlled by a force but does not have a prefect currently
assigned to govern it. The following commands are available here:
1. [Vault] - Two choices here: withdraw or deposit. In Romance 10,
prefects have free reign with the city's money and can take as much
as they see fit as their personal gold. Just make sure not to rob
the city to the point it is no longer self sufficient.
2. [Deliberate] - One of the most annoying parts about being a prefect
is having to constantly deal with your complaining population. Every
30 days or so, a new "petition" will appear in your city's queue.
Any time there are more than 10 petitions, the city will suffer a
substantial order penalty, which means, as a prefect, you need to
stay on top of your petitions. Any petition you agree to support
takes 10 days and (usually) some gold from the city. Refusing a
civilians petition will cause your fame to decrease.
3. Council - Visit the Council Chamber. Note that if you are a vassal
and currently have a task, you will automatically be taken to the
Council if you enter the Castle.
4. Visit - Meet with an officer who is currently inside the castle. For
the most part, officers will refuse to meet with you when they are
in the castle unless any of the following apply:
A. You need to meet them for some task (most likely a request).
B. Your friendship with the officer is already "friend" or higher.
C. Your fame is very high. I would say the 600+ range or so.
If an officer agrees to meet you, you will interact with him as
though you met him at any other facility.
5. (Diplomacy) (other ruler's capital only) - Act as an envoy between
your force and the force that owns this city. All of the diplomatic
council commands are executed in this way. There is a high chance
that you will be offered a debate if the other ruler does not
wholeheartedly agree with your proposal.
*Farmland - The farms surrounding the city, and the area that produces the
food used to feed your armies. The max development for the farms
increases as the scale of the city grows. There are three commands here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Farms.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Farm - Work the farm land. This costs 100 gold and takes at least
10 days.
*Marketplace - The city's marketplace, where people come to trade various
goods. This area produces revenue for the city through taxes. The max
trade value of a city raises as the scale of the city grows. The
following commands are present here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Market.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Trade - Invest money to develop the commercial sector of the town.
This costs 100 gold and takes at least 10 days.
4. [Buy Food] - Use the city's gold to purchase food for the army.
(takes 1 day).
5. [Sell Food] - Sell some of the city's food in exchange for gold.
(takes 1 day).
*Blacksmith - The city's technological center, where artisans work to
develop new weapons for the city. Maxing out a city's technology level
also allows the city to be expanded. The following commands are available
at the Blacksmith:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Blacksmith.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Tech - Invest 100 gold to increase the town's technological
development. This takes at least 10 days.
*Walls - The walls of the city are used to keep undesirables (in this case,
enemy armies) away from the population of the city and its council
chamber. The city is also expanded from this facility. The following
commands are present:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Walls.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Repair - Spend 100 gold and at least 10 days to repair the walls
surrounding the city.
4. (Expand) - Expand the scale of the city. This costs anywhere between
5000 and 50000 gold, depending on the present size of the city. The
city must have maxed out its technology rating in order for it to
be eligible for expansion. (Takes 50 days).
5. (Destroy) (Rival cities only) - Attempt to damage the walls of a
rival city. The higher your officer's intelligence stat, the
greater your success will be. Each attempt costs 100 gold and takes
10 days.
*Guardhouse - The guardhouse is where the sentries are stationed to keep
bandits away from the city's population. The sentries are also in charge
of keeping enemy spies away from the city. The following commands are
here:
1. Interact - Speak with an officer currently present at the Guardhouse.
2. Observe - Listen to rumors and/or search the area for undiscovered
officers. (takes 1 day).
3. Order - Increase the order of the city by patrolling. This costs
100 gold and takes at least 10 days.
4. Survey/Spy (enemy cities only) - Attempt to uncover information about
an enemy city. The higher your character's intelligence, the more
likely you are to have greater success. A city investigated with
the survey command will display city info for 6 months. A city
investigated with the spy command will continue to report information
until the spy is uncovered, which can be a very long time. An
officer must have the SPY skill to plant a spy.
City Information - Pressing circle and viewing will display the following
information on your city. The information is broken down into several
different categories, but the following will always be present:
1. The City's name.
2. The Area in which the city is located. Areas are areas that can be
conquered using the campaign command, and are usually made up of
quite a few cities.
3. The province in which the city is located. Provinces are usually
made up of a few cities.
4. The force that currently controls the city.
5. The viceroy to which the city's prefect reports.
6. The number of officers currently located in the city, excluding
free officers.
7. The number of free officers currently located in the city.
The following information is sorted into sections:
---------
Strength
---------
1. Unit - The number of units currently present in the city. This does
not include units part of a troop that is currently marching.
2. Strength - the total number of soldiers in the city. Again, this
does not include any soldiers that are currently marching in a troop.
3. Population - The current population of the city. Drafting, the
plague, or other disasters will lower it. It increases over time
based on the order rating in the city. If the population decreases
to 20,000, no more soldiers will be available for drafting. The
higher the population, the more revenue collected from taxes.
4. Policy - The orders given the the city's prefect by the district's
viceroy.
5. Target - The target of the above policy.
6. Info - How much information your officer currently has with regard
to this city. The information goes from None -> Part -> Most ->
Full.
7. Months - How much longer you will have the current information
available. If this box currently has "Spy" in it, your force has a
spy in the city who will continue to report information until he is
discovered.
----------
Economics
----------
1. Current Gold - The amount of gold currently in the city's coffers.
2. Earn/Season - How much the city collects per quarter in revenue. The
higher the city's trade and population, the more money you will
collect.
3. Spend/Season - How much money the city spends per season paying the
salaries of the officers serving there. Higher rank officers cost
more money per quarter.
4. Current Rice - The amount of rice currently in storage.
5. Harvest/Year - The amount of rice harvested every year. Higher
Farm development and population will result in more food being
harvested every July.
6. Consume/Month - How much food your soldier's consume every month.
Obviously, larger armies require more food per month. Note that
food is subtracted every day. Units that are out of food will lose
morale every day until it hits 0, at which point the entire unit
will disband if not actively in battle. If in battle, the unit will
become routed and retreat.
---------
Domestics
---------
1. Farm - The current development rating of the city's farmland in
relationship to its maximum.
2. Trade - The current economic development rating of the city in
relationship to its maximum.
3. Tech - The current technological development of the city in relation
to its maximum. Cities can only be expanded in scale when this
number has reached its maximum.
4. Defense - The current strength of the city's walls in relation to
their maximum.
5. Scale - The size of the city from S -> M -> L -> XL. The scale of
a city determines the maximums of Farm, Trade, and Tech values, as
well as the number of specialty facilities present and the number
of units that can be stationed in the city at once.
6. Type - The type of the city. This determines the type of facilities
and requests that the city has. There are the following types:
Wild - The city has either a savage, elephant, or armored garrison.
Basic - The city has a generic mix of facilities.
Learn - The city has predominantly "school" facilities.
Port - The city has a shipyard.
Trade - The city has a bazaar and/or an exchange.
Farm - The city can recruit and establish horse units at half cost.
7. Specialty - The specialty good produced at this city, if any. This
only affects one or two requests at the tavern. You can learn of
a city's specialty by observing at a city in its region.
8. Order - The order in the city. The higher the order, the more
quickly the population will raise. Higher order also prevents enemy
tactics from succeeding. Low order makes your city susceptible to
bandit or foreign tribe attacks. Developing the city lowers order,
while patroling the city increases it.
9. Facilities - The facilities available at the city. Those in grey
are not yet constructe due to the city's size.
-------------------------------------
Some tips for maximizing your city
-------------------------------------
1. In most cases, it is best to expand a city to size M or L as soon as
possible so as to raise the maximum amount of units past 5. This will
also raise the maximum trade and farm amounts to a level that will
produce a steady amount of income.
2. Unless you already have a very large army, it is better to prioritize
the market's development of that of the farmland. It is always possible
to purchase more food at the market relatively cheaply.
3. Do not overdraft the city! Once a city gets below 40,000 people, it
becomes very difficult for it to recover.
4. When deciding cities to conquer, try to prioritize cities that will
yield you useful facilities. Cities with a foundry are always useful, as
are those with machineyard. If you are looking for items, it is a good
idea to capture an exchange, since you can only use the deal command if
your force controls the city.
5. When leaving cities to your prefects to defend, by far the most
important stat to consider is defense. If a city's defense is maxed, your
prefects will have a relatively high chance of successfully defending the
city. If it is low, however, they will almost always lose the city when
attacked, even if they outnumber the enemy due to the auto battle
algorithm.
6. Remember that a city need not be on the front lines to attack the
enemy. In fact, I have found that defending a border city yourself and
assigning prefects just behind the front lines with powerful armies to be
a very effective tactic, since computer prefects are much more aggressive
when they are not stationed on your force's front.
*****************************************************
V. Interacting with Other Officers.
Probably one of the most improved areas between Romance 8 and Romance 10
are the different ways in which your officer will interact with NPCs
throughout the course of the game. This section deals with the various
options related to the relationships between your character and others.
----------------------
Meeting other officers
----------------------
When you meet another officer, there will be a bar underneath his
portrait that displays your current relationship with the officer. The
closer the meter is to the right, the closer you are with the officer.
Remember that relationships range from the scale of: nemesis -> stranger
-> Aware -> Acquainted -> Friend -> Trusted -> Close -> Oath.
There are several different ways you can meet and officer and interact
with him/her:
1. Meet the officer at a facility and choose the Interact command -
Probably the most common way to meet with another officer, especially
if the two of you are stationed in the same city and serve the same
lord. You have the following commands:
A. Social
1. Talk - Ask the officer to chat with you in an attempt to build
your relationship with him or her. The more compatible you are
with the officer, the greater the increase in your relationship
will be. Officers chat about different things based on their
abilities and desires.
2. Gift - Give a gift to this officer. The higher the value of
the gift, the greater the increase in your relationship. The
increase is also based on the desires (if you give him an item
he likes, the increase will be larger), the other officer's
personality (greedy officers are more impressed by gifts), and
your compatibility with the officer (your polar opposite will
still be hard to win over). Officers who don't care for you or
those who are particularly selfless might not accept your gift.
3. Drink - Share a drink with this officer. The better the wine
you present to drink and the more this officer likes to drink,
the greater the increase in your friendship. If you are already
at the "Close" level of friendship, the other officer might offer
to swear an oath with you. If you agree, you will become oath
brothers with the officer, and he will treat you closer than he
would his own family.
B. Learn - Have this officer instruct you in either INT, LDR, POL, WAR
or CHR. You must have a "Trusted" level of friendship with the
officer to ask and the officer's respective ability must not be more
than 10 points higher than your own. You will gain some experience
in the ability following the 20 days of training. If the officer
can teach you a skill (i.e. you can learn a skill that he has) from
that particular category, there is a chance that you will learn it
from the training. If it is a duel or debate skill, however, you
must first defeat the officer in either a duel or a debate.
C. Instruct - Attempt to improve the other officer's stats by giving
him instruction. You must have a relationship of close or oath with
the officer. The training takes 20 days.
D. Information - Display information on the other officer.
E. Employ - Attempt to employ the officer to serve your lord. The
closer you are personally to the officer, the more likely to accept
the offer he will be. If the officer is not totally convinced, he
might offer a debate challenge. If you win the debate, he will
join your force, otherwise he will refuse. If the officer you are
speaking with refuses your officer and serves another force, he
may call the guards, whom you will be forced to duel. Obviously
you cannot choose this option if the officer already serves your
force.
F. Conspire - Attempt to arrange a betrayal of this officer the next
time you meet on the field of battle. This has a higher chance of
succeeding if your relationship with the officer is stronger and
the target officer's loyalty to his force is low. If the officer
refuses your offer, your relationship with him will decline and he
may call the guards to remove you from the city.
2. Meet the officer on the main map, while you both are moving between
Cities - a relatively rare way of meeting officers it adds a little
variety to the regular commands.
A. Social - All the commands are the same as above, besides the fact
that you can't use the drink command.
B. Assault - Attack the other officer in an attempt to rob him of gold
or his rare items. If the officer is a weakling, you will suffer
a fame penalty. Assaulting the officer will cause you both to fall
very much apart and bring you to the duel screen. If you win, you
will seize a rare item from the officer (if he has one). Note that
if this officer is your nemesis, your fame will actually increase.
3. Meet the officer on the field of battle - pretty much the only option
you will have here is to move your unit next to his and challenge him
to a duel.
4. Judge the officer as a prisoner after capturing him in battle - again,
this is only an interaction in the strictest sense, but nevertheless
you will have the following options:
A. Employ - attempt to convince the officer to betray his own force
and join yours. You cannot offer a ruler this choice unless you
have destroyed his force in the current battle. Again, if you are
close to the officer or if the officer is particularly disloyal or
opportunistic, you will have a greater chance of success.
B. Release - release the officer to his force. If the force has been
destroyed in the current battle, the officer will become a free
officer. I have read elsewhere that continually releasing officers
will make them more likely to join you in the future, but I am yet
to see any reason to believe this.
C. Execute - have the officer beheaded. This kills the officer
immediately and makes any of his relations (be they familial or
oath brothers) consider you to be their nemesis.
5. Meet the officer when he drops by your house unexpectedly. There is
no interaction menu here, per se, but the officer might offer you a drink,
a duel, or a debate. If you win the duel or debate, your relationship
will greatly increase. The officer might also share some information on
a rival force's city, or just stop by for a chat. In some rare cases,
a friendly officer might leave some money at your house as a gift.
------
Duels
------
One of the most nicely done aspect of Romance 10, duels pit your officer
against another in either a friendly sparring match or a heated fight
where the loser becomes a prisoner of the enemy. In either case, however,
the duel is handled the same way. See the section on character info for
more detailed information on the specific duel tactics.
In a duel, each officer has two meters: a health meter, which begins the
duel at its maximum (unless the officer in question has fought several
duels in the same battle), and musuo, which starts at 50%. The fighting
takes place in rounds, with each officer selecting 3 attacks to use per
round. After each has made his selections, the choices go up against
one another and the higher tactic inflicts damage upon the officer who
used the lower tactic.
Basic tactics are divided into three groups: St-, Sl-, and Sw-. St-
tactics trump both Sl- and Sw- groups, but is defeated by the defensive
tactic "evade" and all special tactics. Sl- group tactics defeat the Sw-
group, but loses to St-, "evade," and all specials. Sw- group tactics
defeat evade, but lose to all other tactics. When both officers use the
same group of tactic for the same attack in the same round, the two
attacks cancel, and the damage is carried over to the next attack. The
winner of the next attack inflicts the total damage of both attacks.
Tactics groups are further divided into "high" and "low" attacks. "High"
attacks slightly diminish the attacker's musuo, but inflict more damage
than "low" attacks. "Low" tactics require no musuo, but inflict less
damage. When selecting a basic tactic, the number next to the tactic's
name indicate how many of that particular attack are currently available
for use. Basic tactics are refreshed every round. Storing tactics allows
the use of duel specials.
Musuo is recovered every round. All special attacks use up 50% of the
officer's total musuo. You cannot use a special unless you have at least
50% of your total musuo (obviously). Using either of the SHOUT or SCARE
special tactics with full musuo will cause your character to become
excited, which gives him infinite musuo for three battle rounds. All
other specials used at full musuo inflict critical hits, which do
dramatic damage to the opposing officer.
Duels end when either officer loses all his health or escapes. If the
duel was called in a battle, the losing general becomes captured by the
victorious general, and his unit will be removed from battle.
The following are the tactics that any officer can choose:
1. Basic Tactics
A. Strike (St-, high); trumps all basic tactics, uses musuo for more
damage
B. Stab (St-, low); trumps all basic tactics, uses no musuo.
C. Slash (Sl-, high); trumps Sw- attacks, uses musuo for more damage
D. Slice (Sl-, low); trumps Sw- attacks, uses no musuo.
E. Sweep (Sw-, high); trumps "Evade," uses musuo for more damage.
F. Swing (Sw-, low); trumps "Evade," uses no musuo.
2. Defensive Tactics
A. Evade - Trumps St- and Sl- tactics, confusing the officer for the
next attack, leaving him vulnerable to any level attack for which
he will take extra damage. Beaten by Sw- attacks. Evade also
trumps the attack round of Maul, Crush, Pound, and Rush.
B. Guard - Block an enemy's attack. No matter what the attack was, it
will succeed, but it will do reduced damage. Useful in a few
limited situations.
C. Flee - Attempt to flee from the duel, which makes you the loser as
far as your dueling record is concerned. Of course, in some
situations it is better to cut your losses than to risk capture or
death by sticking around. If you fail to escape, however, your
officer will become confused for a round and vulnerable to attack.
3. Generic (Speed) Specials
A. Pound - use one Stab, Slice, and Swing attack to inflict one strong
attack in attack turn 2.
B. Rush - use one Strike, Slash, and Sweep attack to inflict one
strong attack in attack turn 2 that also lowers the enemy's musuo.
4. Skill Specials (see the character info section for more detailed info).
A. Maul - uses 3 Strikes, attack turn 1
B. Crush - uses 3 Stabs, attack turn 1
C. Scare - uses 3 Slashes, attack turn 3
D. Shout - uses 3 Slices, attack turn 3
E. Counter - uses 3 Sweeps, attack turn 1
F. Parry - uses 3 Swings, attack turn 1
G. Recover - uses 3 Evades, attack turn 3
Just reading this might be confusing, so here are some sample duel rounds
to better explain the system:
Round 1
--------
Your Officer Enemy Officer Outcome
Strike trumps slash and you
Turn 1 Strike Slash inflict some damage on the
enemy.
Turn 2 Strike Evade Evade trumps Strike, and the
enemy evades your attack.
Turn 3 (null) Swing Your attack is cancelled, as
you are confused, so any
attack the enemy uses works;
he hits you with a Swing.
Round 2
--------
Turn 1 Wait Strike Wait, which is part of a
special, trumps the basic
attack. No one attacks this
turn.
Turn 2 Pound Slash Pound trumps basic attacks,
and you hit the enemy for
big damage.
Turn 3 Wait Evade Neither Wait nor Evade are
attack commands, so nothing
happens.
Round 3
--------
Turn 1 Maul Wait Wait, when part of the
speed specials, is trumped
by Maul.
Turn 2 Wait Pound Since Maul trumps the speed
specials, the pound is
inactive.
Turn 3 Wait Wait Nothing happens.
Round 4
--------
Turn 1 Maul Evade Evade trumps the attack
turn of Maul. The attack
misses.
Turn 2 Wait(Null) Strike Although technically you
would be confused here, the
wait portion of maul still
trumps basic attacks.
Turn 3 Wait Swing Wait trumps Swing.
--------------------
Some Tips on Dueling
--------------------
1. Unless you have some to spare, save evades for times when your
opponent's musuo gauge is greater than 50% full. Evades are very useful
for dodging the damaging turn of the attack specials.
2. Know your opponent. If your opponent has no special moves, the only
turn you need to fear any more than another is the second, where the
attack portion of rush or pound would hit you. Use your evades here and
you will be relatively safe throughout the duel. Likewise, if the officer
has both MAUL and CRUSH you might want to use the evade in the first
turn.
3. Generally, it's not prudent to duel anyone with more than 5 or so WAR
than you. Unless you have good skills and a bit of luck, you'll be in
a tough spot to win a duel giving up any more points than this.
4. Having a special horse guarantees your safe retreat from a duel.
5. It is certainly worthwhile to save your powerful attack commands for
when your musuo gauge is completely full. If you are attempting to
stockpile a specific command to use a special, consider using the guard
command to avoid using the needed command if necessary.
---------
Debating
---------
In essence, a debate is a duel of wits between two officers, and in this
sense it serves as a duel for officers with high intelligence and
charisma. Your character can engage in a debate when acting as a
diplomatic envoy, hiring an officer, or fufilling certain requests for
the nobles at the tavern. Sometimes when interacting with a friendly
officer of relatively equal ability to your character, the second
character will also challenge you to a friendly debate.
Debates are unlike duels, however, in that your chances for success are
highly rooted in how many dueling skills your officer has. Without any
skills, you will likely have a hard time winning debates, even if you have
high debating abilities (ie INT and CHR).
The actual debate is represented by your character and the opposing
debater standing on opposites side of a bridge. Below the bridge is
a meter that is colored both red and blue. The blue portion of the meter
represents the strength of your argument. Any growth of your portion
reduces the portion of your opponent's. The debate ends when one side's
meter has taken the entire bridge.
As the debate begins, each character is given a set amount of random
commands based on the debating skills he has. The higher the officer's
INT, the more commands he receives. When the officer uses the command,
it is replaced with another random command.
The action takes place in turns. Each turn each debater selects a
command and the two are compared. The winning command then takes effect,
and the meter adjusts accordingly. The greater the CHR of the officer,
the greater effect the command will have on the meter.
There are three different types of commands: regular, attack, and
plead/refute. A regular command, generally, is any command that places
a marker down on the debate board in the lower right. All regular
commands also come with a number that reflect their strength. At the
start of the debate, the higher the number, the stronger the command.
Attack commands do not put a marker down on the board, nor do they come
with a number to describe their strength, but they always trump regular
commands. Plead and refute are generally held in the officer's hand until
the opposing debater uses an attack command, at which time they disable
the command. Both commands, however, can also be used as any other
command, at which point they will deactivate any similar cards held by your
opponent.
Regular Commands
----------------
There are seven different regular debate commands. Six of the Seven can be
used by any officer, regardless of his skills; the Seventh, Awe, can only
be used by an officer that has the AWE skill.
The most basic of the regular commands are Logic, Profit, and Virtue. Each
of these commands has a different color. When used, they beat any regular
command that is of a lower VALUED number (not necessarily a lower number,
however) and will then increase the meter of the officer who used the
command. Whether or not the command won the round, it puts down a colored
marker on the debate board on the space corresponding to the number on the
command. If both debaters use the same numbered command, the two commands
cancel, break, and no markers go on the board, nor does the meter move.
Awe and Focus are also regular commands. Neither directly affect the meter.
After being used, both commands place a colored marker on their
corresponding number on the board. Until that command is removed by either
officer using an identically numbered command the Awe or Focus will
continue to be in effect. Awe increases the meter to the favor of the
officer who placed it a small amount every round. Focus increases the
distance the meter moves when successfully winning a round. Both commands
are stackable.
The final two regular commands are Mire and Think. Mire randomly mixes the
numbers and markers on the board, whereas Think exchanges all your current
commands for a new set of randomly selected ones. Neither put a marker on
the board.
The board itself is very important with regard to regular commands. As the
board fills various combinations of markers begin to form. Any debater who
places the final piece to create a string of 3 identically colored markers
will have the meter moved substantially to his favor. Similarly, if an
officer places down the final piece to make a string of three markers of
three different colors, the meter will move substantially to his detriment.
In either case, after the meter moves, the value of all commands is
reversed, meaning that number strength of commands moves from 9 (most
powerful) to 1 (most powerful). The arrow in the bottom right of the
screen indicates the current strength paradigm.
Attack Commands
---------------
Attack commands always trump regular commands, regardless of the number of
the regular command. Depending on the attack command, the regular command
may or may not put its marker on the board. All of these commands require
the associated skill. The following is a list of attack commands and their
effects:
1. Fault - Moves the bar in your favor; allows opponent's command to
board.
2. Argue - Moves the bar in your favor; breaks opponent's regular command.
3. Incite - Prevents your opponent from acting for 2 turns; breaks
opponent's regular command.
4. Taunt - Prevents your opponent from acting for 2 turns and moves the
bar in your favor; breaks opponent's regular command.
In the event both sides use attack commands, the higher command always
wins, and the lower is broken and disregarded. The priority order is, from
strongest to weakest Taunt -> Incite -> Argue -> Fault.
Other Commands
--------------
The two remaining commands, Plead and Refute, counter attack commands while
held in your hand. Plead simply disarms the attack, whereas Refute
reverses it against your opponent. This makes refute a very powerful card.
You can also use these commands as you would any other. When used this
way, these cards disarm your opponent's Plead or Refute cards.
You need to have the PLEAD or REFUTE skills in order to use these cards.
Again, for the sake of clarity, below are some sample debate rounds:
Round 1
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
Logic 9 Profit 8 Logic 9 wins, 7 P L
meter moves. 1 2 3
4 5 6
Round 2
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
Fault Profit 5 Fault trumps 7 P L
the Profit. 1 2 3
4 P 6
Round 3
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
Argue Argue Both Break; 7 P L
no meter change 1 2 3
4 P 6
Round 4
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
Fault Argue Argue breaks 7 P L
Fault 1 2 3
4 P 6
Round 5
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
Profit 2 Taunt Taunt breaks 7 P L
everything. 1 2 3
You lose 2 4 P 6
turns.
Round 6
-------
You Opponent Outcome Board
(taunted) Profit 2 Since you have 7 P L
lost your turn 1 P 3
the Profit takes 4 P 6
effect.
At this point, your opponent has made a string of three, and the number
order would reverse. You would also watch the meter move a great deal to
your detriment. In a real debate, you will probably lose the debate at this
point.
----------------------
Some Tips for Debates
----------------------
1. Use regular commands to actively create helpful strings. If there is
a square on the board that will obviously make a good combination, ALWAYS
play the number if you have it, regardless of the color of your piece (as
long as it wouldn't create a bad string). The reason you need to play the
number even if it wouldn't complete the combination is that the computer
will actively attempt to make strings as well and playing that number will
at least prevent your opponent from completing the string.
2. You can see your opponent's cards underneath his name. If he has a lot
of purple commands and the refute skill, definitely do not use any powerful
attack commands, as refute will throw them back in your face. Instead,
attempt to disarm his purple commands first by using some of your own.
3. I can't stress this enough: YOU NEED DEBATE SKILLS TO WIN DEBATES.
Although it is possible to beat some people using just regular commands,
without debate skills you are at a major disadvantage.
--------------------------------------------
Some tips on officer interactions in general
--------------------------------------------
1. Officers' compatibilities are based on the force that they serve in the
Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, unless you are playing on fictional,
in which case they are random.
2. Given enough patience, you can become close with really an officer of
any compatibility. It might take a little longer, but if you really have
your heart set on forging an oath with a particular officer, I wouldn't
let the fact that the two of you might be incompatible deter you from
befriending him.
3. Officers whom your share some kind of familial relation with begin
with either "friend" or "trusted" relationships.
4. Know officers' personalities and use them to your advantage. Give
greedy officers cheap treasures, or drink with lush officers. This will
make it much easier to build your relationship with them and will thus
save you a great deal of time.
*****************************************************
VI. The Council
The council chamber is the administrative center of the city, from where
the prefect assigns commands to his officers or prepares the soldiers for
a march. Although all city decisions ultimately come from the prefect, as
a vassal, officers have the ability to make their own suggestions for
policies they wish to enact to the city's benefit. The prefect is more
likely to accept the advice of his subordinates if he already established
a strong personal relationship with him.
Once a vassal has completed a task (or, alternatively, once he has decided
he no longer wishes to fufill a task), he returns to the Council to report
his success or failure to the prefect. Successes are rewarded with deeds,
and failures are subject to deed penalties. If an officer has produced
particularly impressive results, he might be given a reward of gold in
addition to deed.
As a prefect, it is important to visit the Council quite frequently to
verify the results of your subordinates and assign them new tasks.
The following are the commands available at the Council; commands that are
in parentheses are those commands a vassal can suggest, whereas commands
that are in brackets are those that only a viceroy can request from the
ruler:
----------
Domestics
----------
1. (Farm) - Order an officer/suggest to the prefect that you will improve
the city's farmland. The officer carrying out the task receives 100
gold from the city's vaults and has 90 days to report his progress. As
the farm value of the city increases, the order of the city will
decrease. Computer controlled officers report their progress of this
command on the 30th day, unless they have the FARM skill, in which case
it usually takes a little longer.
2. (Trade) - Order an officer/suggest to the prefect that you will improve
the city's trade rating. The officer carrying out the task receives 100
gold from the city's vaults and has 90 days to report his progress. As
the trade value of the city increases, the order of the city will
decrease. Computer controlled officers report their progress of this
command on the 30th day, unless they have the TRADE skill, in which case
it usually takes a little longer.
3. (Tech) - Order an officer/suggest to the prefect that you will improve
the city's tech rating. The officer carrying out the task receives 100
gold from the city's vaults and has 90 days to report his progress. As
the tech value of the city increases, the order of the city will
decrease. Computer controlled officers report their progress of this
command on the 30th day, unless they have the TECH skill, in which case
it usually takes a little longer.
4. (Order) - Order an officer/suggest to the prefect that you will improve
the city's order rating. The officer carrying out the task receives 100
gold from the city's vaults and has 90 days to report his progress.
Computer controlled officers report their progress of this command on
the 30th day, unless they have the ORDER skill, in which case it usually
takes a little longer.
5. (Repair) - Order an officer/suggest to the prefect that you will improve
the city's defense. The officer carrying out the task receives 100
gold from the city's vaults and has 90 days to report his progress. As
the defense of the city increases, the order of the city will
decrease. Computer controlled officers report their progress of this
command on the 30th day, unless they have the REPAIR skill, in which
case it usually takes a little longer.
6. (Expand) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you will
expand the scale of the city. An officer can complete this task only
if the current tech value of the city has reached the max for its
current scale. The acting officer receives exactly as much money as it
costs to expand the city:
Size S -> Size M - 5,000 gold
Size M -> Size L - 10,000 gold
Size L -> Size XL - 50,000 gold
The acting officer must report his progress within 120 days. I am
pretty sure the computer officers report on the 50th.
---------
Military
---------
1. (Establish) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you
create a new unit. All cities can create the basic units (that is,
foot, horse, and bow). Establishing other units requires the
appropriate garrison. The officer assigned to the task has 90 days to
complete it and receives the exact amount of gold necessary to gather
the troops. Computer controlled officers report their results on the
30th day. Below is a list of the different unit costs:
Foot - 1000 gold
Horse - 1400 gold
Bow - 700 gold
Savage - 2000 gold
Armored - 1200 gold
Elephant - 3000 gold
Horsebow - 2000 gold
2. (Recruit) - Order an officer to/suggest that to the prefect that you
gather soldiers to supplement an existing unit. Adding draftees to
an establish unit greatly reduces their skill and morale. The officer
assigned to the task has 90 days to complete it and receives from the
city's vault exactly as much gold as it costs to hire the soldiers.
Computer controlled officers report their successes or failures on the
30th day. Below is a list of the different costs to supplement units:
Foot - 500 gold
Infantry - 900 gold
Sentinel - 1050 gold
Qing Elite - 1000 gold
Horse - 700 gold
Cavalry - 1200 gold
Tiger - 1350 gold
Horsebow - 1500 gold
Bow - 600 gold
Crossbow - 700 gold
Marksmen - 1200 gold
Armored - 900 gold
Savage - 1200 gold
Elephant - 2000 gold
3. (Drill) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you drill
a unit to improve it's performance in battle. You can only drill a
unit if either its experience or morale is below 100. Units with
higher experience inflict more damage and move more frequently when in
battle. Officers have 90 days to report their progress when assigned
to train the soldiers; computer controlled officers report their
results on the 30th day.
4. (Weapon) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you build a
seige weapon for use by a particular unit. One unit can have any or
all possible weapons at any given time. Officers are given the exact
cost of the weapon when assigned a construction assignment. They must
report to the prefect within 90 days; computer officers return on the
30th day. The following are the prices for weapons:
Ram - 1000 gold
Tower - 1000 gold
Catapult - 3000 gold
Wood Ox - 1000 gold
Juggernaut - 5000 gold
5. (Ship) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you build a
ship for use by a particular unit. One unit can have both warships
and ramships, but will only use the most powerful available ship when
in battle. Officers receive the exact cost of the ship when assigned
a construction duty. They must report to the prefect within 90 days;
computer controlled officers report on the 30th day. The following
are costs for ships:
Ramship - 1500 gold
Warship - 3000 gold
------
March
------
1. (Battle) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you
command a troop to attack an enemy facility or troop. If you are the
prefect, you also have the option to control the force yourself. The
amount of units any officer can command is relative to their rank.
Any units that do not have a commander (ie a subunit of another
commander) will be lead by a generic liutenant with 70% of the
orginal commander's abilities. Officers must be currently in the city
and not presently assigned to any other task in order to march with
the army.
Gold is used to build structures at vacant bases on the map. Food
(obviously) is used to feed the army in the field. Armies generally
march with a 60 day supply of food, unless the units are equipped with
wood oxen to store a larger supply. Running out of food, while not
a disaster, can cause a problem if there is a probability of a
prolonged return march.
2. (Build) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you lead a
troop with the express purpose of constructing a structure or maze at
a base. This follows the same rules as organizing a troop for a
battle, except that the target will obviously a base and not an
enemy troop or structure.
3. (Transport) - Order supplies and/or units to be transferred from one
city to another, or request that your prefect either send units or
request some from the district's viceroy. The goods/units transport
from one city to another immediately. A viceroy can move supplies
freely between cities in his district, whereas a ruler can freely
move goods between any city in his force.
4. [(Campaign)] - As a ruler, this command declares a campaign; as any
other officer, it puts the request into your ruler to declare such
an offensive. Only forces ruled by sovereigns with an imperial rank
above Grand General can call for a campaign, and the higher the
ruler's rank, the more units he can deploy after calling for the
invasion. A viceroy, prefect, or vassal can only recommend a
campaign for the area in which their present city is located. See the
campaign section for more info.
5. Rogue - Only the ruler of a force can use this command. It
immediately disbands the majority of his army, abandons all cities
under its control, and brings you to the rogue army commands. There
are relatively few ways this command can be useful. Really the only
suggestion I have for its use is when your force is about to be
invaded and crushed by someone you are sure will execute your officer.
It gives you a chance for a safe escape, but at a high fame penalty.
--------
Tactics
--------
1. (Inspect) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you
inspect another city in an attempt to gain information on it. When
accepting such a task, you will have 120 days to fulfill it and will
receive 100 gold. Computer officers take more time based on how far
away the target city is from their home city. For the most part,
officers with the SPY command are superior to those without it, since
planting a spy yields information indefinitely.
2. (Agitate) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you spread
rumors at an enemy city in order to lower its order. This command is
much more successful if your force has already inspected the city.
When accepting this task, you receive 100 gold and 120 days to
complete it. Computer officers take more time based on how far the
city is from their home. Occasionally an officer will do so well at
this task that the population of the city will agree to side with
your force should you attack. In this case, your commander will be
able to use the "riot" skill the next time you engage the city in
battle.
3. (Destroy) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you
lower an enemy city's defense by destroying the city walls. This
command is more successful if your force has already inspected the
target city and it has less than ideal order. When accepting this task,
you receive 100 gold and 120 days to complete it. Computer officers
take more time based on how far the city is from their home. A very
useful tactic, especially when used repeatedly on an enemy city that
would otherwise prove difficult to conquer.
4. (Rumor) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you spread
a rumor intended to cause a rift between a sovereign and one of his
subordinates. If successful, the target officer's loyalty will
decrease. This command is more successful if your force has already
inspected the target city and it has less than ideal order. When
accepting this task, you receive 100 gold and 120 days to complete it.
Computer officers take more time based on how far the city is from
their home. This is a relatively useful tactic (again, used best
by several officers en masse) and a good way to set up for ploting a
betrayal.
5. (Conspire) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you
convince another force's officer to switch to your side upon meeting
your force in battle. Best used against officers of low loyalty or
of low moral character, this command can really shift the tide of a
battle if successful. As an officer, the prefect gives you 120 days
to complete the task. The computer control characters take longer to
report their progress if the city is farther from their home city. A
betrayal plot lasts for 1 year.
6. (Disrupt) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you spread
rumors in an attempt to disrupt relations between two enemy foces. I
personally haven't had too much success with this command, but imagine
it being relatively useful if you send several officers simultaneously
to attempt it. Officers receive 100 gold and must report their
progress within 120 days to the prefect. Computer officers take
longer to fufill the task if they have long distances to travel.
---------
Personnel
---------
1. (Search) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you search
a specific city for free officers. If the vassal discovers a hidden
officer, he will make an attempt to recruit him to your force.
If he does not discover an officer, there is still a chance that he
will find a small amount of gold. This command is obviously more
useful if you know when and where to search for officers. This task
has a time limit of 90 days. Computer officers take more time if they
have a great distance to travel between the target city and their home
city.
2. (Employ) - Order an officer to/suggest to the prefect that you will
attempt to hire a free officer or an officer with whom you have in
some way become acquainted (this includes those officers you have
information on by virture of the "inspect" command). An officer must
report his progress within 90 days. A computer controlled officer
takes longer if must travel a great distance to complete the task.
3. Return - Order an officer to stop any attempts to complete his current
task and return to his home city. If you are a vassal, you can
abandon your current duty by simply reporting to the council chamber,
meeting with the prefect, and telling him such. You will, however,
suffer a deeds penalty and have to return any money you received to
perform the task. If, by some chance, you have lost the money, the
prefect will seize your personal gold to make up for the failure.
----------
Discipline
----------
These commands can only be used by officers of rank Prefect and above.
1. Reward (gold) - reward an officer that currently serves below you with
100 gold. An officer can only use this command once per month. It
costs 100 gold per officer rewarded. The target officer's loyalty
will increase.
2. Award (Item) - reward an officer that currently serves below you with
a unique item. Obviously, you must have an item to present to the
officer. This will cause the officer's loyalty to your force to
increase, and it will also improve your personal relationship with
him. Giving an item that meshes well with the officer's interests
will increase the effect.
3. Confiscate (Item) - seize an item from an underling. You will
personally gain the item, but the officer will dislike you and his
loyalty to your force will decrease.
4. Banish (only for use by a sovereign) - fire an officer from your
force. He will depart immediately, but will be less likely to join
you in the future. This is not a terribly useful command unless you
have many high ranking officers of very low ability that are simply
draining your force's resources.
-------
Appoint
-------
1. Appoint Prefect - appoint a prefect within the district you command.
An officer must be of rank 5 or higher in order to be prefect.
Generally, the higher rank, the better, although of course abilities
are also important. The district's viceroy will command cities that
currently have no prefect. This is generally inefficient, however,
since the only officers able to work on the city will have to travel
from the district capital to the city and back again for every task.
2. Order transfer - assign vassals from city to city.
3. [(Request transfer)] - Ask the officer to whom you report to be
transferred to either another city or district.
4. (Transfer Gov't) - Ask the viceroy or ruler of your district to
transfer your prefecture to another city, or, if you are acting as
disctrict commander, order such a change. All officers (but,
significantly, not units) will be swapped with the officers in the
target city.
5. City Policy - Set the policy for an individual city. The following
are the possible city policies:
Domestics - Order the prefect to focus on domestics. You will set
goals for individual city values, and the prefect will report upon
his attaining of these goals.
Capture City - Order the prefect to capture another city from a rival
force.
Auto - Leave all decisions to the prefect.
Wait - Order the prefect to stand by for further orders. To be
honest, I'm not sure what this command does.
--------
District
--------
For the most part, these commands are only for the ruler of a force.
1. Establish - Create a new district to be ruled by a viceroy you
appoint. An officer must be of rank 1 or 2 and hold the rank of
prefect in order to qualify for the position of viceroy.
2. [Edit] - Change the cities currently in a district. A viceroy can
only directly make changes to his own district. Of course, adding
cities to your own district will remove them from others and vice
versa.
3. Policy - Set or change the policy of a district. The following are
the possible policies for a district:
Conquer Area - Conquer the cities in one of the large areas of the
map.
Conquer Province - Focus on capturing the cities of a particular
province.
Territorial Defense - Defend a particular region from the enemy.
Territorial Development - Focus on domestics within the region.
Auto - Leave the decision up to the viceroy.
------------------------------
Some Tips for Council Commands
------------------------------
1. As a prefect, viceroy, or ruler, it is very important to periodically
visit your council to collect the reports of your vassals and to assign
them new tasks. Frequently, this will mean that your officer of rank
prefect or higher will be essentially tied to the city in his command.
Whenever possible, I have tried to indicate how long computer officers take
to complete tasks so that it is possible to know how long you have to
do other things around the city before you return to the council.
2. Assign officers to taks at which they are likely to excel. It is
pointless to have Yan Jun, for example, attempt to repair the city walls,
as he takes the same amount of money as Guan Yu but returns 1/100th of
the investment. Generally, if an officer has a particular domestic skill,
it is better to assign him to that task than others.
3. When attempting tactics on an enemy city, it is a good idea to bum rush
the city with plotting officers. For example, first send a spy to the
target city. After that officer returns, send a bunch of officers to
agitate the city and another bunch to destroy the city walls a day later.
The first bunch of officers will greatly lower the city's order, and the
second bunch will ruin the walls, as the city will be vulnerable due to its
lower order rating. Repeat several times, and you can have the walls
crumbling before you even lose a soldier.
4. A similar tactic works with betrayals. Just send the second group of
officers to spread rumors about an officer, watch his loyalty plummet, and
then send an officer to hire him.
5. Call campaigns only when you have a solid numerical advantage on the
enemy in a region. Campaigns are generally just slugfests between
soldiers, so if you have a strong advantage in numbers you can gain several
cities in very little time.
6. Once a unit has high experience, only use officers with the HIRE skill
to supplement their numbers. This will reduce the drop in experience and
morale that is inevitible when drafting soldiers to veteran units.
7. Unless you are playing in scenario 9, hiring officers is generally the
number one priority for your government. Always check to see if there are
free officers for hire when you are in the council, and, if there are,
send officers to hire them as soon as possible. Even officers of very
little skill can serve as backwater prefects, building a powerful reserve
army if you are to need it.
8. Don't be afraid to experiment a little with prefects. Some officers
simply don't do very well in the position, so if one guy can't get the job
done, just replace him with someone else. The same goes with viceroy's,
but given the rather strict rank requirements, you're probably going to
have less room with which to work here.
9. Build seige weapons for your units whenever possible. Catapults,
towers, and rams all make it much, much easier to invade enemy cities than
simply throwing lives away at the gates.
10. If you are fighting with an enemy force, send spies to every city he
controls. This will give you permanent warnings every time he send a
troop into the field. This works even better if you have complete
information in the city, because you'll even know where the troops are
headed.
*****************************************************
VII. Battles and Units
Next update, I promise.
*****************************************************
VIII. Campaigns
Yup, next update...
*****************************************************
IX. FAQs
Q: How do I unlock multiplayer?
A: There is no multiplayer. KOEI accidentally advertised the game as being
1-8 players, but this is a mistake. They have since issued an apology. I
do not know if the second wave of games still has the mistake on box, but
I bought the game the day it came out and my box has the 1-8 player claim
on it.
Q: I've heard you can select skills for your created characters, but how
do you unlock it?
A: You need to play end a game where your character has learned 30 skills.
Note that I say "learn" not "has." You need to actively learn the 30
skills in one playthrough then either die or unify China.
Q: What's a good way to learn the 30 skills?
A: Create a character with abilities all at 100 and 500 fame. Domestic
skills and tactics are ridiculously easy to learn. Atain the rank of
prefect, then withdraw a ton of money from your vault, continually work
at facilities with 500 gold for 10 days and you'll be able to learn the
skills within a few months. This works even better if you then as
prefect and get hired by another force as an officer, because you will gain
fame at the same time. Remember to get 400 experience in everything, as
other skills require higher amounts of experience.
For the tactic skills, repeatedly use the agitate command at an enemy city
until you have 700 tactics experience. You will auto learn WARLORD. You
will need to be assigned the task first.
For the duel skils, repeatedly duel the guards of enemy cities until you
win 30 in a row.
At this point, you should have more than 700 fame. If not, do requests
(preferably drinking contests) until you do. You will auto learn HOST.
Learn the HERO skill from either Qiao Xuan or Xu Shao.
Repeatedly debate enemy guards until you win 30 debates in a row. This is
a little trickier. I'd recommend you learn one tactic at a time so that
you have a higher chance of not breaking your streak. It is not
essential to learn TAUNT but every skill helps.
At this point, you will have learned about 26 tactics, depending on
whether or not you got every skill above. Simply fight in some
battles and learn the attack skills. You could then just finish the
game normally, or try to get your officer executed by getting captured by
a nemesis.
Q: How can I get my character married?
A: The short answer is, you can't. If you create a female character, you
can set her as your wife, but she won't stick around your house as she will
be another officer. Some chracters have NPC wives. These characters are:
Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian. There may be more, but these are
the only ones that I know off the top of my head.
Q: Why are my computer controlled prefects so bad? They always lose when
they get attacked!
A: Prefect AI in this game generally leaves something to be desired. Part
of the problem is that when simulating a battle, the computer puts a heavy
emphasis on the defense of the defending city. As the simulation
progresses, both troop numbers and the city's defense will decrease.
Nine times out of ten, however, the city's defense hits 0 well before
either side is out of troops. It's possible to lose cities with 200,000
troops this way.
There's no perfect solution. Whenever I take a city, I make sure to max
out it's defense first. A city with max defense and an army relatively
equal to that of the attackers will usually sustain at least one attack
before you'd absolutely need to rescue it personally.
If I can't be at the city myself to improve its defense, I'll usually set
the prefect's orders to "Auto," as this seems to force him to improve the
city's defense the most quickly. I have also experimented with setting
the city policy to domestics and only selecting defense, but this really
doesn't work at all. Once the city's defense is maxed, then I'll switch
the policy to conquer another city.
Also, make sure that you have prefects of relatively high rank. Mediocre
officers like Yuan Xi can be better prefects than Guan Yu if their rank is
substantially higher. I try to keep officers I want to be prefects close
to my ruler or viceroy until they are to class 3, so that I can force them
to do tasks that reward a lot of deeds. Class 5 prefects are usually at
a disadvantage as they can only march with 5 units at a time.
Q: I just won 5 battles in a row! Why is the morale of my soldiers so low?
A: Every time your troop enters a battle, the troops become a little
fatigued. At first, there is no effect, but as subsequent battles come
and go, your men will become increasingly tired. The only solution to
this is to return to your base and give your men a rest. If their morale
dropped substantially, you will likely need to run some drills to restore
it.
*****************************************************
X. Appendices
Next update....
*****************************************************
XI. Credits
Thanks to the following people:
KOEI, for releasing the game in the US
Nicole Xhilone (pronounced X-Ill-On) for reading this guide throughout its
various permutations and being generally supportive (she's cute too).
Flamingllama32 for his guides on units/weapons and the sages. I consulted
both while writing this guide.
*****************************************************
XII. Legal
This guide is copyright 2005 by Greg Hartman.
As of 8/11/05, the following sites may post this guide:
http://www.cheatcc.com
http://www.gamefaqs.com
If you are interested in posting this guide on your website, contact me
and I will entertain your request. It is illegal to post this guide
without the permission of the author, and only a jerk would do so.